Sum 41 with Senses Fail, As It Is

“I can’t pin-point one exact moment that put me over the edge, it was more of an accumulation of many things when I slipped into a fog of partying and booze. I tried to detach myself from any and all responsibility whatsoever,” Whibley reflects. He spent the next year doing just that, and at the end found himself in a Los Angeles hospital fighting for his life.

Whibley spent most of April and May 2014 in and out of the ICU with his mother and fiancée by his side. When he was finally released as an outpatient he realized that his journey was just beginning, and it was then that he began to write while simultaneously going through intense physical therapy. “Being sober and out of the fog made me realize that the only things I really cared about were music, making a record, and getting better so I could get back on stage again.”

The music came together in tandem with Whibley’s health; he recalls: “Due to neuropathy, muscle atrophy and medication that caused permanent nerve damage in my legs and feet left me unable to walk and in excruciating pain for months. I had to learn how to do everything again—my motor skills, learning how to play guitar. It was really difficult, but at the same time if I didn’t have a record to make, I don’t think I would have recovered as quickly, or even at all.”

He continues, “Writing music gave me a purpose and I started from scratch with absolutely nothing to work with. I would put on movies with no sound and start writing guitar riffs and music to the images. Mostly movies from Tim Burton and Quentin Tarantino like Edward Scissorhands, Sweeny Todd, Kill Bill and Inglorious Bastards. The process led me in a direction that I had never gone in before which made me feel like I was writing a theatrical score called “hard-score punk”.

Soon, he was gathering his bandmates at his home in Los Angeles to begin laying down tracks for what would become the group’s sixth full-length album, 13 Voices. The record includes a surprise return from original guitarist Dave Brownsound, who parted ways with the band a decade prior. The first song Dave played guitar on was “Goddamn I’m Dead Again” a track that proves that the fiery guitar riffs that came to define SUM 41 are back.

In addition to bassist Cone McCaslin and lead guitarist Tom Thacker, Sum 41 would also formally welcome Frank Zummo (Street Drum Corps, Krewella, Thenewno2, Dead By Sunrise) behind the kit.

Whibley produced and engineered 13 Voices entirely on his own in his house. Drums were set up in the living room, guitar amps in the bedrooms. The end result stands tall as SUM 41’s most intense, cathartic and all-around finest work in years.

The album was written from a place of optimism, and speaks to the necessity of Whibley’s drastic fall before he was able to rise again. Opener “A Murder Of Crows,” the first track written upon the frontman’s release from the hospital, is about how those closest to Whibley quickly abandoned him when things got bad. The song’s haunting refrain (“You’re all dead to me”), repeated over bombastic percussion and steadily building guitars, is Whibley’s rallying cry; he’s letting go of the past in order to salvage his future.

He touches upon the theme of letting go further in “Fake My Own Death,” the fan track being released first from the record. “I just wanted to get away from everything that I had been doing. I needed to start a new life—like faking my own death.”

With the upcoming release of this album we see SUM 41 as an impenetrable unit putting everything they’ve got out into 13 Voices. The result is a dynamic, impassioned collection of melodic, guitar wielding, rock songs. “I can’t say whether this is our best record or not, as I don’t know if it is,” states Whibley. “All I can say is I did the best I possibly could during the toughest period of my life”.

Silverstein with Senses Fail

Silverstein

The fifteen year career of Silverstein has firmly established the group as an institution within an industry characterized by flux and mercurial vogue. Once again we are reminded that since their inception in 2000, the band’s commitment to innovation remains unfaltering.

Leading the rise of aggressive, melodic punk to the forefront of our attention, the band cultivated a sound and work ethic that has brought them from basements and community centers in Burlington, ON, to main stages, and global festivals. The success of the group’s debut full-length, When Broken Is Easily Fixed (Victory 2003), marks a paradigm of the musical American (Canadian) Dream, as the band found themselves sharing both a label and countless stages with their musical idols. The marriage of melody and aggression on this effort and others since, cemented the band within an influential position of their own.

The subsequent success of Discovering the Waterfront, and Arrivals and Departures can be credited to the aforementioned zeal for innovation, and work ethic, culminating in a 25th spot on Billboard’s top 100, a Juno nomination, and alternative music fame. A Shipwreck in the Sand, Rescue, and This is How the Wind Shifts anticipate and facilitate the latest from a group disinterested with creative complacency as Silverstein now enters yet another chapter of their decorated career. “We have gotten better as musicians and songwriters. We want to deliver better songs each time,” Paul Koehler promises. “We have so much more to offer. Our last record was our best record to date and we can do ever better this time. We’re proud of that and we’re going to work really hard to achieve it.”

The journey from Burlington to over 40 countries manifests itself in the sounds of six full-length albums, countless EPs, and singles- though perhaps never more saliently than it is heard now. Some 1,760 shows, and over one million albums sold have yet to satiate the dynamic five piece, nor their eager listeners worldwide.

Senses Fail

Comprising vocalist James “Buddy” Nielsen, guitarists Dave Miller and Garrett Zablocki, bassist Michael Glita (former percussionist for Tokyo Rose), and drummer Dan Trapp, New Jersey outfit Senses Fail developed a slick amalgam of post-hardcore chuggery and emo heartbreak that recalled fellow New Jersey-based group Saves the Day. Formed in 2002 in Bergen County, Senses Fail quickly issued a debut EP and began gigging regularly while maintaining a thriving Internet presence. Drive-Thru Records took notice and signed the group in late 2002. A revamped version of the From the Depths of Dreams EP appeared in April 2003; it featured improved sound, one new song, and an acoustic version of the track “Ground Folds.” A tour with the Used wrapped up the year in successful fashion, while From the Depths of Dreams cracked the Billboard 200 and helped poise Senses Fail for a commercial breakthrough.

After more heavy touring and a bit of label drama, 2004’s Let It Enfold You — named after a Charles Bukowski poem — was released that September through Vagrant/Drive-Thru; a deluxe edition with bonus tracks arrived one year later. The band also contributed a cover of Suicidal Tendencies‘ “Institutionalized” for 2005’s Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland video game soundtrack. Relentless touring persisted before the bandmates began work on their sophomore effort, which saw Senses Fail hitting the studio in May 2006 with producer Brian McTernan (ThriceCave In) and a new guitarist, Heath Saraceno (the former Midtownmember wound up permanently replacing Miller, who’d previously left the group). A main-stage spot on the American Warped Tour helped the revised band hone its chops, as did a stint with the Taste of Chaos tour in the U.K. Both appearances led up to the release of the explosive Still Searching, which deemphasized the band’s screaming vocals in favor of an energetic, emo-tinged sound.

Bassist Mike Glita left the lineup one year later, and Hot Water Music‘s Jason Black climbed aboard as a temporary replacement during the recording of Life Is Not a Waiting Room, which arrived in October 2008. The following year, guitarist Heath Saraceno announced he was leaving the band. He was replaced by Zack Roach, and shortly afterwards the band returned to the studio. In 2010, their fourth album, The Fire, was released on Vagrant. The group’s fifth studio long-player, the well-received Renacer, was the first Senses Fail album to not feature founding memberGarrett Zablocki, and would be the last outing with longtime drummer Dan Trapp. In 2015 the band inked a deal with Pure Noise Records and released Pull the Thorns from Your Heart.